1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a sample pretreatment system, and in particular to a sample pretreatment system provided with secondary sample racks.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a sample pretreatment system which is equipped with an automatic pipetting apparatus for subdividing (pipetting) a source sample such as a blood sample or the like into a plurality of secondary sample containers, there is provided a secondary sample rack in which a plurality of secondary sample containers are held in rows. When pipetting a source sample, a pipetting nozzle is moved to a source sample container containing a source sample to be pipetted and then aspirates the source sample for a predetermined amount. Thereafter, the pipetting nozzle is moved to a secondary sample rack with keeping the aspirated source sample therein, and then dispenses a predetermined amount of the sample to secondary sample containers. When the pipetting operation is completed for all the predetermined secondary sample containers, the secondary sample rack is taken out and fed to the next stage for examination or analysis or the like.
However, in the conventional system described above, when a source sample has to be pipetted urgently, there arises a problem upon taking out and feeding the secondary sample rack to the next stage. Specifically, when an urgent source sample has to be pipetted during normal pipetting operations, an urgent source sample rack is placed in the system manually, and pipetting of the sample is carried out preferentially. However, in this preferential pipetting operation, the sample is pipetted to secondary sample containers held in the secondary sample rack in the same manner as the normal pipetting operation. The secondary sample rack is taken out after the pipetting of the sample for all the secondary sample containers held in the rack have been completed as described above. Therefore, even though the pipetting operation of the urgent source sample is preferentially carried out, it is not possible to feed the secondary sample rack to the next stage for examination until the pipetting of the sample for all the predetermined secondary sample containers has been completed, thus loss of time can not be avoided.
In order to avoid such loss of time, in a practical site only secondary sample containers to which the urgent sample has been pipetted are selected from the secondary sample rack to pick up them manually. However, this needs to locate the secondary sample containers to which the urgent source sample has been pipetted from among all the secondary sample containers held in the secondary sample rack, and thus this operation is quite troublesome for a user. As described above, in the conventional system, it is troublesome to feed the secondary sample containers containing the urgent source sample into the next stage.
In view of the above problem in the conventional system, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sample pretreatment system which does not necessitate to locate secondary sample containers to which an urgent source sample has been pipetted.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a sample pretreatment system capable of feeding secondary sample containers to which an urgent source sample has been pipetted into the next stage immediately.
In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention is directed to a sample pretreatment system. The sample pretreatment system comprises: a pipetting nozzle for pipetting a sample from a source sample container to secondary sample containers; a nozzle conveying apparatus for conveying the pipetting nozzle; a normal area in which at least one normal secondary sample rack which holds a plurality of normal secondary sample containers is placed; an urgent area in which at least one urgent secondary sample rack which holds a plurality of urgent secondary sample containers is placed; and control means for controlling the pipetting nozzle and the nozzle conveying apparatus, the control means controls the pipetting nozzle and the nozzle conveying apparatus so that in a normal pipetting mode a sample from the source sample container is pipetted to the secondary sample containers, and in an urgent pipetting mode a sample from the source sample container is pipetted to the urgent secondary sample containers.
According to the above structure, in the normal pipetting mode, a source sample is pipetted to normal secondary sample containers in the normal area as is the same with the conventional system, and in the urgent pipetting mode, a source sample is pipetted to urgent secondary sample containers in the urgent area which is separately arranged from the normal area. Therefore, since the urgent secondary sample containers are positioned in the urgent area, it is possible to locate them easily without looking for and selecting them as was done in the conventional system. As a result, it is possible to feed such urgent secondary sample containers to the next stage immediately. In this connection, the urgent secondary sample rack may be formed into a portable type or it may be fixedly mounted to a pipetting table.
Preferably, the sample pretreatment system may further include a pipetting table on which the normal area and the urgent area are provided, the pipetting table having a front side and the a back side, in which the normal area is arranged on the front side of the pipetting table and the urgent area is arranged on the back side of the pipetting table. Here, the front side of the pipetting table means the side of the table where an operator stands, and the back side means the opposite side of the front side. Normally, the pipetting table has a relatively large free space at the back side thereof. Therefore, according to this arrangement, it is possible to provide the urgent area on the back side of the pipetting table by utilizing such a relatively large free space effectively with the normal area for the normal secondary sample racks which are frequently replaced with other one being provided on the front side of the pipetting table. Further, without enlarging the width of the pipetting table, it is possible to provide such urgent area.
Further, preferably, the urgent secondary sample rack is formed into a portable type, and has a size smaller than the normal secondary sample container. Since the urgent secondary sample rack is not so frequently used, it is not required to have a large size. Further, it is better for the urgent secondary sample rack to be formed into a portable type having a small size because handlability is good and feeding to the next stage can be made easily.
Another aspect of the present invention is also directed to a sample pretreatment system. This sample pretretment system comprises: a pipetting nozzle for pipetting a sample from a source sample container to secondary sample containers: a nozzle conveying apparatus for conveying the pipetting nozzle: a normal area in which at least one normal secondary sample rack which holds a plurality of secondary sample containers is placed; an urgent area in which at least one urgent secondary sample rack which holds a plurality of urgent secondary sample containers is placed; a container transferring apparatus for carrying out container transfer by which a unused normal secondary sample container in the normal secondary sample rack is transferred to the urgent secondary sample rack as an urgent secondary sample container, and control means for controlling the pipetting nozzle, the nozzle conveying apparatus and the container transferring apparatus so that in a normal pipetting mode a sample from the source sample container is pipetted to the secondary sample containers, and in an urgent pipetting mode the container transfer is carried out, and after the container is transferred, s sample from the source sample container is pipetted to an urgent secondary sample container which has been transferred from the normal secondary sample rack.
According to this structure, when a sample is required to be pipetted urgently, it is not necessary to prepare urgent secondary sample containers in advance separately from the normal secondary sample containers, and unused normal secondary sample containers held in the normal secondary sample rack can be used as urgent secondary sample containers.
In this case, preferably, the label sticking is carried out during the transfer of the container. According to this, it is no longer necessary to stick a label after the transfer of the container is completed, thereby enabling to simplify the steps for preparation for the urgent secondary sample containers.
The above and other objects, structures and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent when the following detailed description of the embodiment is considered in conjunction with the appended drawings.